GEORGE O’Malley is one of the most delightful characters you come across at shows, brimful of old school courtesy, integrity and genuine charm.

Schooldays as a Kings Hospital boarder quickly dispensed with; “I enjoyed the sport but not the academic side!” - he preferred travelling to Dublin for the Horse Show. “We used to ride the ponies from Mohill down to Dromod station and we always enjoyed the journey up. There was a train siding opposite the RDS, where the AIB bank is now, and they took the horses off there. I used to hear that Jack Bamber would hire his own train to bring all his horses to Dublin,” he said, recalling the famous northern owner’s transport arrangements.